Chapter 1759: A Lotus
Not only had Xumi Dojo been breached, but Zhang Ruochen had managed to escape too. Shang Ziyan’s anger exploded as he wiped out the six Nine-step Saint Kings.
Immediately after, the three figures reunited into one again.
It was just too shocking!
The island was dead silent because the cultivators from the Kunlun Ream and even the Saint Kings from the Heavenly Realm all held their breath. They gaped at Shang Ziyan as if they had laid eyes on a G.o.d.
The Nine-Step Saint Kings were beings at the pinnacle, just right below the Supreme Saints. Yet, even with six of them joining forces, they barely lasted over a dozen bouts with Shang Ziyan.
“Shang Ziyan’s cultivation should be the Way of the Three Corpses, which is on the Taiyi Divine Techniques Rank. The Way of the Three Corpses is one of the most difficult techniques to learn, and there are only a few who have managed to cultivate it. Shang Ziyan’s comprehension and abilities are really extraordinary,” Zhang Ruochen whispered.
Shang Ziyan held his b.l.o.o.d.y crimson blade and rode on his Tri-colored Cloud, instantly crossing a distance of more than 20 miles before appearing outside Xumi Dojo and facing Zhang Ruochen.
The speed of his cloud was not much slower than Zhang Ruochen’s Great Dimensional s.h.i.+ft.
Not long after, the Saint Kings from the Heavenly Realm converged. Some were standing on the ground while some were flying, but all of them were oozing a murderous intent. On top of that, there were still three to four hundred of them.
Zhang Ruochen said. “In the Celestial Domain of Truth, most of the cultivators only know that w.a.n.g Xu cultivated the Path of Flowing Light. Few know that your cultivation of the Path of Flowing Light far surpa.s.ses w.a.n.g Xu’s. Amazing, simply amazing.”
The Path of Flowing Light was the fastest speed-type Saint Path. If cultivated to its apex, the cultivator could reach the speed of light, or even exceed it.
It was a Saint Path that was not much weaker than the Path of the Ancients.
Shang Ziyan replied, “The Path of the Flowing Light is just one of the three Saint Paths I have focused on.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and could already tell that Shang Ziyan did not just cultivate a single Saint Path. He had also cultivated a Saint Path of flames and another Saint Path of ice, with both being Supreme Saint Paths.
It could be said that he was the first multi-path cultivator Zhang Ruochen had met.
However, the three Saint Paths that Zhang Ruochen majored in were the Path of Time, the Path of Dimension, and the Path of Swordsmans.h.i.+p. Taking into consideration his future growth or the power of the Saint Paths, they were all above Shang Ziyan’s level.
“Xumi Dojo has been breached, and soon, Equality will be activated. Even if you still have an absolute advantage, the coming battle will only make your losses even more severe. Shang Ziyan, stop now and retreat!” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Stop now?”
Shang Ziyan shook his head.
The losses of the Heavenly Realm today were so severe that it was more than ten times the losses of the Kunlun Realm. Plus, more than half of the Heavenly Realm’s Saint Kings were still trapped in the temple. How could Shang Ziyan stop now?
Shang Ziyan could not afford to suffer this indignity, much less the Heavenly Realm.
“Do you think that Xumi Dojo only has Dimensional Traps and Time Arrays? Within the Dojo, there are more than twenty cultivators of time and dimensions. You are a heritor of time and s.p.a.ce; you should understand how strong the powers of time and s.p.a.ce are? With these powers, even if the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm were to rush in, they would only find death,” Shang Ziyan said.
“Are you that confident?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled and added, “I will admit that you never underestimate your opponents when you do anything. You will use twice, three times, or even ten times the strength needed to crush your foes. Nevertheless, your foes are not as weak as you imagine them to be.”
Earlier on, Blackie had whispered to him that the cultivators of time and s.p.a.ce in Xumi Dojo had become food in the abdomen of the Three-legged Corpse Eater.
That unreliable owl had finally done something reliable for once.
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so calm, Shang Ziyan’s gaze turned grim as he thought to himself. P
Perhaps he still has more tricks up his sleeve?
Whoos.h.!.+
The huge Buddha statue in the middle of Xumi Dojo suddenly bloomed in brilliant golden light.
Echoing Sanskrit chants came from beyond the Nine Heavens and purified the murderous aura on the island. As if afflicted by a mysterious force, the fighting spirit of all of the cultivators present became weaker and weaker.
“Cultivators of the Kunlun Realm, Equality has been activated.”
“How is this possible? We have set up so many killers, but it was still a failure in the end?”
…
There was no Saint King from the Heavenly Realm who was not angry.
All of their hatred was directed at Zhang Ruochen. If it had not been for him, the cultivators from the Kunlun Realm would have been wiped out long ago, and they would have been able to obtain a lot of precious cultivation techniques as well as high-level saint abilities.
No matter how refined Shang Ziyan’s upbringing was, the gaze in his eyes was still extremely cold.
Although the situation had deteriorated to such a point, Shang Ziyan was still unwilling to pull back. He wanted to step into Xumi Dojo, take Zhang Ruochen’s head, and destroy the Kunlun Realm.
Yet, the Saint Kings behind him were lacking the fighting spirit.
The Heavenly Ream had suffered unprecedented setbacks today, and although they still had an absolute advantage, their morale was at rock bottom. On the other hand, the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm appeared as though they welcomed death, and they were obviously prepared to fight to the death to protect Xumi Dojo.
Shang Ziyan was now caught in a dilemma.
He could not attack or retreat.
Zhang Ruochen retreated to the center of Xumi Dojo and stood beneath a quaint shrine as he felt an overwhelming pressure engulf him. It suppressed his cultivation level to that of a Saint.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen found the green lotus seed in his arms emitting heat and shaking violently.
At the same time, the calm water in the lake rose higher and higher as it gradually turned milky white like the essence of liquid jade.
Whoos.h.!.+
The green lotus seed flew out of Zhang Ruochen’s arms.
“Come back.”
Zhang Ruochen activated Spatial Grab to try to grab it from afar.
However, the green lotus seed exploded with a powerful force, shrugging off his attempt. It then flew straight toward the huge Buddha statue at the center of the dojo before it fell in between the Buddha’s brows.
A Six-step Saint King stood behind Shang Ziyan and whispered, “Master Ziyan, something major seems to be happening in Xumi Dojo. Should we take this opportunity to attack?”
“Do not act rashly. Zhang Ruochen is not that easy to deal with. Keep in mind that this could all be part of his trap. Stay behind. I will go and see what Zhang Ruochen is up to.”
“Master, are you going in alone?”
“Do not worry. If I want to leave, no one can keep me from leaving.”
Shang Ziyan sped off, seemingly turning into a ray of tri-colored light as he rushed into Xumi Dojo.
Inside the dojo, the expression on the faces of the Kunlun Realm’s cultivators changed as they activated their holy artifacts one after another.
The earlier scene where Shang Ziyan crossed two realms and his record of killing eight Nine-step Saint Kings were still vivid in their minds.
Even so, everyone was in the same state now, so how scary could Shang Ziyan be?
Chi Kunlun’s wounds healed up, and he was full of energy. As he grabbed his sacred blade, he loudly said, “I will fight him.”
“Brother, count me in.”
Chi Kongyue knew how terrifying Shang Ziyan was, so she was prepared to join forces with Chi Kunlun.
Luo Xu, the Nine-heavens Maiden, Friar Lidi, and Princess Bai Li were even more aware of Shang Ziyan’s power than the Chi Siblings. In that dojo, anyone who faced Shang Ziyan head-on would undoubtedly perish.
In spite of that, none of them were weak, and if they attacked together, no matter how strong Shang Ziyan was, he would probably need to retreat.
At that moment, they saw a figure covered in smoldering flames intercept Shang Ziyan.
“It’s Zhang Ruochen.”
“Sh*t, Zhang Ruochen is definitely not a match for Shang Ziyan. Everyone, hurry up and help Zhang Ruochen.”
…
Just as the cultivators of the Kunlun Realm were about to rush forward, Luo Xu stopped them and said, “Do not act rashly. The elites of the Heavenly Realm are still eyeing us outside the dojo, and they could strike at any time. Zhang Ruochen is not that weak. Now that they are of equal rank, it is not impossible for him to fight Shang Ziyan.”
“Everyone, stay and defend the dojo, and obey Luo Xu’s command. I will go and help Zhang Ruochen.” The Nine-heavens Maiden grabbed the Heaven’s Sear Blade and rushed forward.
“I am coming too.”
Qing Xiao’s wounds had healed, so he followed The Nine-heavens Maiden.
Before both of them could even reach the battlefield, they saw blinding flames surge out and sweep over them in a terrifying energy storm.
The Nine-heavens Maiden quickly took out the Sacred Confucian Tome and protected herself, as well as Qing Xiao. She simultaneously looked ahead with her phoenix eyes.
At the heart of the flames, Zhang Ruochen stood in a lunging stance as he ignited the power of the Fire G.o.d’s Gauntlet and collided with Shang Ziyan’s crimson blade.
The two of them stood in a stalemate for a moment before they flew back at the same time.
Shang Ziyan was pushed all the way out of the dojo before he finally managed to neutralize the powerful force and get a hold of his footing.
Zhang Ruochen was pushed back till he was in front of The Nine-heavens Maiden and Qing Xiao. With the help of the Sacred Confucian Tome, he slowly came to a stop, and there were ma.s.sive crater-like footprints ahead of him.
Their blows had been evenly matched, but neither Shang Ziyan nor Zhang Ruochen split into three or activate the power of time and s.p.a.ce respectively.
The cultivators of both the Heavenly and Kunlun Realms were all stunned. None of them expected that Shang Ziyan, who had been smas.h.i.+ng boundaries in his fighting, would be repelled by Zhang Ruochen when they actually fought on the same plane.
“It looks like Master Ziyan has met his match.”
“Zhang Ruochen is so powerful, and it seems impossible to retake Xumi Dojo today.”
Out of nowhere, the green lotus inlaid between the brows of the Buddha statue released a green light that illuminated Heaven and Earth. A significant amount of life energy poured into the Buddha statue and traveled through the statue into the ground.
Green lotus leaves began to grow on the white lake surface.
Following that, green gra.s.s and vibrant flowers grew all across the island, which had been reduced to scorched earth by the fighting.
Dense silver roots grew from the soil under the Buddha statue and spread upwards, converging at the top of the Buddha’s head. Immediately, a large number of emerald-like lotus leaves grew from the tip of the roots, and they were radiantly green.
Rustle…
In the middle of the lotus leaves, a white lotus slowly bloomed.
The lotus flower radiated light akin to a magic lamp and illuminated night into day. The light extended even farther, and it did not take long for the entire land to be filled with light.
All of the present cultivators were astonished.
Zhang Ruochen was the first to react as he used the Great Dimensional s.h.i.+ft and reappeared at the top of the Buddha statue, grabbing the lotus. If he was not wrong, the lotus should be the treasure left behind by Saint Monk Xumi.
Just as he grabbed the lotus, though, his expression changed.